Your Right to Know

WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the tea party firebrand, said yesterday that it would be “
irresponsible” for Congress to grant President Barack Obama a debt-limit increase without spending
reforms.

Cruz, who spoke to reporters after remarks at the Heritage Foundation, said he hoped the House
would not “go down that road” of agreeing to an increase in the government’s borrowing authority
without demanding measures to rein in long-term deficits.

“President Obama is asking Congress to give him a blank check to allow him to keep maxing out
the credit card without doing anything to fix the problem. I think that’s irresponsible,” Cruz
said.

Republican House leaders decided yesterday to seek to make an increase in the federal debt limit
conditional on the repeal of a planned cut in military pension benefits approved in December, Rep.
Mo Brooks of Alabama said last night.

Brooks, who spoke as he was leaving a meeting of House Republicans, said he did not think the
plan would attract the support of a majority of his party colleagues because of its cost of about
$7 billion over 10 years. Several Republicans left the meeting voicing skepticism about the plan,
but House Speaker John Boehner could try to win enough Democratic votes to secure passage.

Cruz was a central figure in the government shutdown battle in fall 2013, with his campaign to
deny funds to Obama’s health-insurance reform law.

His efforts, together with those of outside conservative groups, were highly influential in
persuading House Republicans to vote to block government funding for the new fiscal year if it
included money for the law.

The standoff launched a 16-day shutdown of many government agencies on Oct. 1 and caused
financial markets to fret about the debt limit, which needed an increase shortly thereafter. Since
then, Congress has reached two minor budget deals.